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- NASA worried about ISS leaks
NASA worried about ISS leaks
and how vulture decline led to 100,000 more deaths in India
Coffee Table Science
September 29, 2024
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In this newsletter
IVF babies have a higher risk of heart defects
After studying data of 7.7 million children born in Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden over a period of three decades, researchers have concluded that children born using In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technologies are at 36 percent higher risk of being born with heart defects.
Congenital heart defects are the most common form of birth defects requiring specialist surgeries when babies are young. Knowing which newborns may be at higher risk can help in early diagnosis, treatment, and care.
With larger numbers of parents conceiving with artificial reproduction techniques (ART), researchers have seen an increase in birth defects, especially associated with multiple births. Researchers wanted to know if there was an increased risk of heart defects as well.
To determine this, the researchers studied data from 7.7 million children from four Nordic countries and whether they were conceived naturally or using ART. Data showed that the risk for babies conceived through IVF, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and embryo freezing was 36 percent higher than those conceived naturally.
The risk was similar irrespective of the type of method used but increased with multiple births when compared to a singleton pregnancy.
The research findings were published in the European Heart Journal.
NASA worried about leaks on the ISS
A recent report from NASA flagged concerns about a leak onboard the International Space Station. The tunnel is located on the Russian side of the ISS and connects to a docking port but the cause of the same remains unknown.
The leak was identified in April this year and results in a loss of 3.7 pounds of atmosphere a day. The cause has been narrowed down to internal and external welds but repairing them is proving tricky because the ISS has a supply chain problem for its components currently.
If the leaks continue, NASA and Roscosmos will decide to close the hatch completely, cutting off access to the docking port.
The problem, however, is that the two agencies haven’t come to an agreement on when the leak will be considered untenable.
Detailed reports from NASA’s inspector general can be found here.
Vulture Decline caused 100,000 human deaths in India
A dip in the vulture population in India has caused an increase in human deaths by about 100,000 people, according to a new study. If these numbers don’t sound much, the economic impact of the deaths is estimated to be $69.4 billion per year. What’s the link? The role of vultures in sanitation.
To understand the entire story, one needs to go back to the expiry of the patent on Diclofenac, a painkiller drug a few years ago. Once the patient expired, the drug could be manufactured by generic companies at a large scale. This dropped the price of the drug in the market by 90 percent.
This might be good for humans who need the drug. However, the drug's easy availability at a lower price meant that it was also used extensively for veterinary purposes. Livestock often have joint pain, and a low-cost drug like diclofenac is a useful option.
The problem began when diclofenac-fed cattle died. Conventionally, scavenger birds like vultures take care of cattle carcasses, even grown as livestock. However, diclofenac levels in cattle carcasses proved lethal for vulture populations in Asia.
Vulture populations, once in millions, have dropped down to a few thousand in recent years. How did it lead to human deaths?
Vultures did not just take care of the carcasses but also of parasites, viruses and other pathogens in the cattle. With vultures no longer available to clean up, the carcasses were dropped in landfills or, worse, water bodies, from which they made their way to humans, infecting them and leading to more deaths.
The research finding was published in the American Economic Review.
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Stem cells reverse Type 1 diabetes
A 25-year-old woman in China affected with Type 1 diabetes is now able to produce her own insulin after researchers transplanted reprogrammed stem cells into her abdomen more than a year ago.
In Type 1 diabetes, the body's immune cells attack the islet cells of the pancreas, stopping insulin production. A transplant of islet cells can help treat the condition, but there aren’t enough donors. So, researchers have been working on reprogramming stem cells to do the job.
The researchers at the Peking University in China, isolated cells from three patients with Type 1 diabetes, including the 25-year-old woman. They then induced them to become pluripotent stem cells and generated three-dimensional clusters of islets.
After testing them for safety in mice and non-human primates, the islets were injected into the abdominal muscles. Typically, diabetes treatments are injected into the liver, but the cells cannot be observed. When injected into the abdomen, researchers can monitor them using MRI and even remove them if needed.
Three months after the transplant, the woman has been producing her own insulin without the need for external insulin. The other two patients are closer to marking their one year of insulin production.
Researchers want to monitor the patients for five years before concluding that they are disease-free.
The research findings were published in Nature.
This cannabis startup pioneered “rapid onset” gummies
Most people prefer to smoke cannabis but that isn’t an option if you’re at work or in public.
That’s why we were so excited when we found out about Mood’s new Rapid Onset THC Gummies. They can take effect in as little as 5 minutes without the need for a lighter, lingering smells or any coughing.
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We recommend you try them out because they offer a 100% money-back guarantee. And for a limited time, you can receive 20% off with code FIRST20.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time,
Ameya
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